November Review

This is the November review, almost another year over.

A long list of running notes this month:

• Orakei Bay parkrun
• A new location the day before Auckland half marathon
• Auckland half marathon
• Covered in the Auckland 2025 report
• Aurora parkrun 18:15
• Good on a slow course with wind and rain, and the week after a half marathon
• Melbourne half marathon
• The ballot was open with another increase to $190
• I didn't register and will look at other options, depending on my winter holidays plans
• Aurora parkrun 17:45
• A much better time than the previous week, but working hard on a slow course
• Berwick Waters 17:30
• My best time for the year
• 2XU Wellness Run 10km
• Happy to finish under 36 minutes for only the second time
• Could have run a bit faster in the last kilometre
• Purchases
• Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 3 in Auckland - only $110 but was size 14 rather than 13
• Nike Vaporfly 4 - discounted to $175 and immediately felt much better than the Vaporfly 3
• Adidas Adios Pro 4 - $175
• Nike Vomero Plus - $200 but had a work gift card so effectively free

The bad month for shares finally turned up, in particular technology shares were down 15% in three weeks. A lot of end of year expenses are still coming through with even more next month:

• Air conditioner replacement - $3500
• Car insurance - $1100
• Parramatta half marathon trip - $750
• RACV - $150
• Shoes - $300
• Tax return - $1300

Nothing much happening for sports and I'm still weeks behind in NFL highlights. I missed the whole regular season of Gridiron Victoria due to lack of information online, I can't even find out where the final is being played yet.

The to do list has a bit more activity this month:

• Holidays
• Auckland report
• Parramatta weekend booked for June with a half marathon
• House
• Attended a few houses for private sale - very expensive
• New air conditioner installed before summer arrived
• Running
• Booked Run For The Kids 14km - end March
• Booked Ballarat 10km - end April
• Booked Parramatta 21km - mid June

I've been busy at work still towards the end of the year again. For December I'm planning to do the Advent Of Code again, since it's now only 12 days instead of 25.

That's it for this month:

• Books
• None
• Movies
• None
• Music
• None
• TV Shows
• None - many in progress again
• Video Games
• Nintendo Switch 2
• Donkey Kong Bananza bought - don't own the console yet
• Steam
• Command And Conquer ultimate collection bought for $10
• Xbox One
• Call Of Duty - Black Ops Cold War
• Finished the game on regular - the campaign was much too short
• 4 out of 10
• Call Of Duty - Modern Warfare 2
• 65 GB + 130 GB installations - but at least it worked on the first attempt

Auckland 2025

October 31

November 01

November 02

November 03

November 04

November 05

October Review

A bit late again due to holiday.

Nothing for miscellaneous so straight into running.

• KM Reedy Reserve parkrun 19:30 with lots of leg issues carried over from last month
• Second and final half marathon training session was not ideal
• Dandenong Creek trail closed for a fun run
• Sore hamstring
• Strong winds
• 4:10/km average with a few hills
• Dorset Recreation Reserve parkrun 22:30 jogging before the half marathon
• Melbourne half marathon
• Had to drive in to the city due to trains not operating
• Jog through the city to the start for warmup
• Goal was revised to about 80 minutes
• Started working hard at 8km and leg was a bit sore at 12km, but managed to recover
• Due to a bit of extra watch distance only had 60 seconds to make it around the MCG lap
• Came in with about 10 seconds to spare
• Both quads were sore for a whole week
• Marriott Waters parkrun 18:00 legs almost back to normal after six days
• Berwick Waters parkrun 18:15 a bit slower before another half marathon training session
• One more half marathon training session at about 4:15/km to discover any problems
• Still restricted to jogging the rest of the weeks
• Purchased a cheap pair of Asics Novablast 5 for $115 for daily running

I had a surprisingly good month from my shares with almost every company going well, except for a big drop starting to accelerate at the end of month. Still lots of major expenses keep coming up so I'm not saving much money.

• Tax quarterly payment $1750
• Tax return $1250 - next month
• Car insurance $1100 - next month

Not a lot happening in sports, and I'm already running a few weeks behind in NFL highlights.

The to do list has been a bit quiet as I was preparing for my short New Zealand holiday.

• Holidays
• New Zealand remaining bookings and payments

I've been quite busy with work things for once. I finally scheduled the Java 17 exam and just barely passed. In addition to work I've had to spend lots of time on my end of year review, which is finally over now, and attended a conference.

That's it for this month.

• Books
• None
• Movies
• Black Phone 2
• Had a few good horror moments but otherwise too slow
• Strange direction for the second movie, was just like A Nightmare On Elm Street
• 6 out of 10
• Music
• None
• TV
• None - many in progress
• Video Games
• Nintendo Switch
• Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 purchased
• I own both on Wii already but haven't played the second
• Xbox One
• Call Of Duty - Black Ops Cold War
• Got one more level done after finishing exam and holiday tasks

Auckland 2025, November 05

My alarm was set for 7:20am to allow time for running and breakfast before a 10am checkout and 10:10am train. I could have wasted a bit more time and got a train 30 minutes later, but didn't seem worth the risk of a delay and missing the bag drop deadline.

For the morning run I didn't want to run on concrete again so crossed over to the opposite side of the road, which eventually turned off inland after 4km. My legs were a bit more tired after yesterdays longer run but still got through 11km.

Packing was a bit rushed as I kept finding more things I'd forgotten to account for, but just managed to squeeze everything into both backpacks. Getting down to the train station there was major issues on the southern line that I was planning to take to the bus interchange. Nothing seemed to be happening so I went across to the eastern line which also seemed delayed, but at least it seemed like a train was about to depart. In the end I was only about 10 minutes behind schedule getting to the airport.

The check-in area was empty, but when trying to do the last step of the bag drop my backpack placed in a container wouldn't move forwards onto the conveyor belt. I had to get a staff member to come over and do a manual override, so I hoped it would still make it to the other end.

Before going through security I stopped for a Tank juice in the small food court, probably like a smaller version of Boost juice. On to security and once again my passport failed to scan and I had to go into the manual line. That was still a quick process but the security check was very slow, so there was about 75 minutes until take off by the time I was waiting at the gate.

There was just enough time to eat some snacks and write up the notes for my last day before getting prepared for boarding. For this flight I didn't think I'd booked an exit row but maybe a row with extra leg room still. Unlike the previous flight this one actually had a business and premium category.

I was one of the last on the flight according to the announcements about which rows were allowed to board, except when I got to my seat almost everyone around me was already seated. The flight went pretty quick again with no delays. The meals again included a default vegetarian option which was macaroni cheese, but I didn't like getting another garlic bread roll instead of plain one.

After landing somehow my passport worked first time at the gate, but luggage was really slow like usual. For maybe the first time ever I walked straight on to a waiting Skybus, and because it was nearly peak afternoon time a train was only a few minutes away too. I arrived home at about 5pm Australia time, having left the hotel at 10am Auckland time or 8am Australia time.

Steps = 17,300 with 10.95 kilometres running

Auckland 2025, November 04

My last whole day in Auckland already. After breakfast I got ready for a short bus ride out to the zoo on the western side of the city. With a short walk from the bus stop I arrived not long after opening at 9:30am.

At the entrance the ticket prices were reduced by 20% as some areas were closed for construction. I started in the African Safari area which was the best, but didn't have the giraffe, ostrich, or zebra. I did get to see the cheetah, flamingo, meerkat, and rhino, but failed to spot the lion in it's enclosure.

The New Zealand section was disappointing, I expected the kiwi would be the highlight but none were visible in their nocturnal house. The penguins were also absent, and and I only saw one seal. The East Asia section was next, with some orangutans at the top of some incredibly high poles, and a few tigers, but I couldn't find the red panda.

The highlight of the South American section was the Galapagos tortoise, there was also many small varieties of monkey but were a little hard to find. Finally was the Australian section except the Tasmanian devil was closed. The other highlights were the emu and kangaroo, although I've seen lots of those before.

That was the end of the zoo tour, which had a pretty good layout to avoid going around in circles. The enclosures and other structures were also above average, it's just a shame a few were offline. I ended with a quick trip to the gift shop and then walked back to the bus stop. While waiting for the bus there was some strange Melbourne style trams going around the park exterior, one said Orrong Road and another Glen Iris.

Back on Queen Street once again I stopped in for some food and drink to take back to the hotel for lunch. I noticed my head was still feeling quite sore from the cave exploring yesterday. I didn't have any other specific activities for the afternoon, but also needed a bit of time for packing before the morning. My flight wasn't until 1:30pm but I didn't want to be rushing everything right before hotel check-out.

I decided to get my run done a bit earlier, but it was still quite warm in the afternoon. After about 6 kilometres going east I turned around, as with yesterday it's a good route except the 1.5 kilometres each way on hard concrete. I did a couple of extra kilometres at the end for 14 kilometres in total. On the way back to the hotel I picked up a yoghurt from Woolworths and an ice cream from this great Japan Mart across the street which I hadn't been to until now.

For dinner I just watched some more TV shows then figured out how to pack everything in my bags. I couldn't get everything done since I still needed my running shoes tomorrow, and more dirty clothes, but it looked like it would just fit. I had to get a bit creative putting rolled up shirts or shorts inside of each pair of shoes, which was now three extra pairs instead of two.

For the morning I was thinking of going to the airport early then across to the nearby outlets, including Nike, but decided my bags were already too full. I just got in some more rest for the evening since I had quite a long day of travel coming up, even with the help of the time zone.

Steps = 22,400 with 14.25 kilometres running

Auckland 2025, November 03

My alarm was set for 7am but I decided to rest a bit more rather than go for a run in the morning. After having breakfast at 8am I walked down to the ferry just before 9am since they said to arrive 30-45 minutes early, but that was unnecessary since it was very empty.

The ferry departed on time at 9:30am and after a stop at Devonport made it to Rangitoto Island a bit after 10am. I set out on the track to the summit which was well marked and said it was 2.2km and 1 hour to the lookout. It felt like quite a long walk and more than 2 kilometres, and was steeper towards the top, particularly the sections with stairs. The view from the top was good and was facing towards Auckland luckily, with just a few trees partially blocking a bit of the view.

On the way back down I made a detour to another place called lava caves, which suggested it was related to an old volcano eruption. The cave was quite small and very dark so you could hardly see where you were going, it was also very low and narrow in one place where I smashed my head on the ceiling. I didn't notice anything special about the cave though, it just looked like any other to me.

Those were the two main places to visit, so I made the long walk downhill to the ferry with a bit under 30 minutes to spare, but better than being late. The ferry was a bit late to turn up, then went via Devonport again and I was back on land at about 1:15pm. First I checked out a big food court near the harbour but didn't find much, so decided to try Burger Fuel across the road instead. They had two vegetarian options, but one was a horrible mushroom burger so that was immediately ruled out. The other came with beetroot, which I asked to be removed, then I found out the burger was still loaded with beetroot when I got back to the hotel. It was a shame as the rest of the burger was quite good once I'd scraped off all the beetroot and tried to reassemble it.

Back at the hotel I watched some TV shows and checked in on work quickly while eating my burger and fries. Before heading out again I also checked in on my shares and made a few trades, so by the time I was ready to go it was already 3pm. I didn't have much else planned since I intended for today to be about recovery, and also wanted to try a bit of running before dinner.

I visited the Real Groovy music store again and bought a key ring and pin as gifts. Further up Queen Street I also went to a couple of other souvenir shops, and bought a gift magnet and a replacement Christchurch magnet. After a quick trip to the Nike store, then the supermarket and finding very little food I went back to the hotel to change for running.

The walk down to the harbour was 500-750 metres and then I could start my route east. It was a good run for about 2 kilometres then it became concrete footpath for 1.5 kilometres, then it was better bike path surface again. In total I ran for 11 kilometres and felt pretty good except for some slight soreness in the bottom of my quads just above the knee. Trying another Woolworths metro on the way back I still didn't have much success.

Back at the hotel my head was still sore, and I realised I had some dried blood where I must have cut my head in the cave earlier. There was too much hair in the way on the top of my head so I couldn't get a good look at the problem though. Since it was after 6pm I sat down for some food and more TV shows on computer for the evening.

Steps = 27,000 with 11.1 kilometres running

Auckland 2025, November 02

I slept alright overnight and only woke up a few times, perhaps because I wasn't nervous at all for this race. At 5am I got up and managed to eat a couple of race energy chews and a bit of Gatorade, which is more than I can usually manage before a race. Since my right foot had been quite sore for the last few days I decided to gamble on the new race socks that were a bit thicker and hopefully more supportive. I've also had some right glute and hip issues for close to two months but it's finally been starting to improve.

I decided to leave the hotel at about 5:30am to be ahead of time for the 5:45am ferry and the three that followed it. Once I got to the ferry building there was already a huge queue in each direction extending for about two blocks. I overheard one person say the line exploded after a train full of people just arrived. After finally reaching the back of the queue the line was inching forward slowly but regularly. I only got on to a ferry at about 6:10am, which was supposed to be the last one, so they must have ended up running more services than advertised. It was amazing to see people just showing up at 6:05am when the last ferry was due to leave five minutes after that.

The ferry trip was quick but standing room only, so my legs were a bit tired from standing on the spot for nearly an hour. At the Devonport end it was easy to get to the section at the front for people under 90 minutes, and there was an open road ahead for a quick warmup.

The race started and I purposely went conversative at the start, knowing the first 5-6 kilometres had a lot of hills. Checking my watch splits I was staying under 4:00/km and my legs weren't feeling too bad. After 6km I expected a flat section most of the way the bridge, but there was actually lots more up and down until about 10km instead.

Finally we could see the bridge at 11km but still had a very long few kilometres to finally get to the bottom of it. The bridge was quite steep and lasted a bit longer than I thought, but I managed a fairly steady pace and then sped up on the way down, close to 3:30/km. I knew there was another surprise hill just after leaving the bridge and that turned out to be very steep too.

By now the slow marathon field ahead was starting to build up, so I had to dodge across the road a little. After being way ahead or behind on my watch compared to each of the course markers it was suddenly a perfect match again at 18km. I had a slow 19th kilometre but thought I'd still be close to 82 minutes depending on how much extra distance I had to do at the end compared to my watch.

I finally caught one more person, who I'd been following almost the whole race and sped up just a bit to around 3:45/km again. My watch then split at 21 kilometres but I was still a long way from the finish line so I realised my 82 minute goal was probably done. Coming into the final straight there was only 3 seconds to spare, so even a sprint wouldn't have helped and I finished about 5 seconds behind. Since my goal was to have a fun race and not injure myself it was a success, and the new socks and sore foot had no further issues either.

I got my medal then walked back to the hotel to check the results. There was no link on the website yet, but I was able to modify the 2024 link and found I'd finished in the top 50, and third for age category.

After getting changed and a quick breakfast I header for a train to Onehunga to visit the outlet shops. I figured after a hard day of running it would be good to sit on a train for a while. At the outlet shops they sadly didn't have Nike anymore, but had Adidas, Asics, New Balance, and Puma among others. In Puma first I saw a clearance pair of Deviate Nitro Elite 3 for $275 but with an extra 50% off. This is the same shoe I'd just worn for this mornings race, but size 14 instead of my usual 13. I decided to think on it and continued shopping.

At New Balance I didn't find anything, but got casual shorts and a running shirt from Asics, and running shorts from Adidas. Heading back to Puma again I tried on the shoes again and figured they would still be good enough to risk for training sessions, maybe with thicker socks. The price of the shoes ended up being just $118 in Australia dollars.

After a stop at Chemist Warehouse there was just enough time to walk back to the station to get the two trains to Auckland Central again. On the way to the hotel I got another burrito from Taco Bell which was good, but the cheese quesadilla was average.

While having lunch I checked the race website again and there was still no results. However on the same page I saw there was prizes for top 3 in each age category available after 11am but it had to be collected on the day. It was after 12:30pm at the whole place shuts down between 1pm and 2pm, so I had to jog down to the finish area again and find the information tent.

Luckily the online results were correct and I receive a bronze medal for third place, and they also said results were available via the mobile app instead. On the printed out results I saw a lot of people still hadn't collected their medals yet. After taking a few photos it was another walk back to the hotel to drop off my medal and write out my notes for the morning.

Feeling a bit rested I went for a walk uphill to the south end of the city. The first store I visited sold lots of vinyl records but also had a section with lots of assorted small games, toys and other merchandise. There was lots of interesting stuff but I didn't buy anything yet, and I'm already going to struggle to fit everything in my backpacks due to buying another pair of shoes.

I continued up past some games arcade until I reached Aotea Square and turned around. My legs had been feeling good earlier, but my feet and left shin in particular had now been through enough. There was a place going out of business selling Asian toys, but it all seemed to be generic stuff. After a quick trip to Woolworths I headed back to the hotel to rest and have dinner. Due to the time zone difference I could finally watch Match Of The Day now, as it wasn't close to ready at lunch time. I also watched a replay of the Noosa Bolt 5 kilometre race on YouTube.

Steps = 33,700 with 21.75 kilometres running

Auckland 2025, November 01

The room was a bit noisy overnight due to general hotel noise and a main street nearby, but overall not too bad. My alarm was set for 7am so that I would have enough time for a 10 minute walk to the train station, and made it with plenty of time to spare. The train trip was just one stop for about 5 minutes, then I was able to follow people to the nearby parkrun starting location. It was quite a unique place for a parkrun, starting and finishing on the middle of a footbridge elevated over the bay.

Soon after we set off half of the footbridge was closed so there was a narrow section until we got back onto land. The course had a lot more hills than I expected and some were quite steep although didn't last for long. My legs felt quite bad at the start but got better as I went along and finished in the top 20 at about 22:30 for 5km.

A quick walk back to the train station and then to the hotel to get ready for the free breakfast. The options were a bit more limited than a usual Holiday Inn Express but I got some hash browns, mango yoghurt, muesli, orange juice, and plain croissants.

After breakfast I headed down to the harbour for the race check-in. It wasn't too busy and was well organised, the first stop was to collect the race bib and free hat, then another area to collect a bag with a few free items like bagels and gels. The bagels needed to be toasted so I had no idea what I was going to do with those.

At the expo they had the Asics merchandise first since they were the major sponsor, and they had a special collection of marathon and half marathon tops with every participant named on the back. I thought that was a bit unique so got a regular t-shirt version, since it seemed better than the rest. Moving on through, one of the stores had the Australian shyu socks, where they match the colour schemes to some of the common racing shoes that are currently on sale. I got a pair to match my light green / blue Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 3, as well as some energy chews. I wasn't sure if I'd wear those socks tomorrow or stick with my better known Steigen pair, which are also a close match colour wise. On the way out there was also free Rokeby milk and Red Bull cans, and a long line for free barista coffee.

Heading back to the hotel I stopped at the local Pop Mart store to see if they had anything special for New Zealand, but it all looked quite standard. After dropping off my race stuff I walked to the local Countdown supermarket, which is sadly now just named Woolworths. They had the Anzac flavour of Mother Earth muesli bars which was good, as they don't sell them in Australia. Most other things were similar to Australia, so I just got some bread and drinks, plus a visit to Dunkin Donuts on the way back to the hotel for lunch and rest.

By the time I finished lunch it was 1pm but I didn't want to have a big and exhausting afternoon. I started out at a local games and collectibles shop which had quite a lot of stuff, but nothing I was desperate to buy. The next stop was a souvenir shop which had some good quality magnets with a buy two get one free deal. Then another stop at JB Hi-Fi to see what they had, but the collectibles section was very small. Finally I got some more food and drink at New World and then back to the hotel as my legs were starting to feel a bit tired.

I spent the rest of the afternoon resting and watching some videos on Twitch and YouTube before trying to sleep early ahead of the upcoming morning race.

Steps = 13,500 with 5.0 kilometres running

Auckland 2025, October 31

I left home very early at 6:45am for the train, getting to the airport at 8:15am for a quick check-in where my large backpack weighed less than 4 kilograms on the scale. There was still nothing to do in the international terminal after passing security, that was after having to get my passport manually inspected.

I tried to access a work website from my computer but the corporate login kept getting denied with every web browser and browser extension attempted. I thought I'd forgotten to submit part of my end of year review, but it seemed I couldn't do anything about it now, so instead I just downloaded some TV shows while I waited. The rows of seats at the departure gates are still terrible, every time someone moves the whole row of seats shakes violently.

I already had a quick breakfast before leaving but the departure time of 10:30am was a bit too early to consider buying lunch before boarding. Not packing any snacks for the flight might have been a mistake though, as it would be at least 2:30pm Australia time when landing. Since the flight was only 3.5 hours I just opted for economy class and an exit row for a bit more leg room. Once onboard I wasn't planning to do much besides listen to some podcasts and countdown the time remaining anyway.

The boarding process was a bit less chaotic than usual and we departed on time. I slept for a while before a lunch service came through that seemed to take forever, but at least they had a default vegetarian option on the main menu. Once lunch was cleared I listened to a podcast for an hour and then we were close to landing, but the last half hour always seems to take forever.

Yet again my passport didn't work at the electronic gate so I had to go into a manual queue, but luckily there was only two people in front of me. The luggage came within a couple of minutes, and although the quarantine line moved slowly there wasn't too many people ahead of me.

Outside the terminal I easily found the bus stop and only had to wait 5 minutes since it runs every 10 minutes. There was a lot of traffic on the road but we had a dedicated bus lane to avoid the worst of it, then only had to wait another 5 minutes once getting off for the connecting train.

Both the bus and train accepted credit cards which was good. The train had less than 10 stops to make but they were quite far apart and the train was not going particularly fast, so it was a long journey. Overall I still made it to the city centre a bit ahead of schedule, at about 6pm New Zealand time or 4pm Australia time, about a 9 hour trip in total.

The hotel wasn't far away from the station and I spotted a Burger Fuel, New World supermarket, and Taco Bell along the way. Once I had completed check-in I got changed for a quick 6 kilometre run along the harbour. Going west was a bit crowded and not the best choice of the two directions, I got a brief look at the preferable east side before finishing. Walking back through the city there was a lot of people getting ready for their Halloween events also.

On my way back to the hotel I used my watch to buy a drink at the supermarket and some food from Taco Bell, and they added in a free taco but it had meat. Back at the hotel I had a quick dinner while watching some of The Amazing Race then checked how my shares finished the week, with no surprises at least.

It was already about 7:30pm by now and I had to be prepared for the 8:00am parkrun in the morning, with a train at about 7:30am. However since my legs were feeling alright, and it was technically only 5:30pm Australia time, I went back out again to New World for some snacks and drinks for the fridge. I also stopped in at the nearby Dunkin Donuts but they didn't have much left at the end of the day.

Steps = 13,400 with 5.7 kilometres running

September Review

A bit behind schedule and a lot of running notes to get through this month.

Starting with miscellaneous and city protesting has started getting out of hand. On one weekend there was four protest groups on Saturday and two more on Sunday. Despite the mostly good intentions the line has blurred between right to protest and shutting down the main city streets each weekend.

Starting with running with dot points again:

• Three parkrun volunteers for the month - still a bit behind my target of 50 out of 500
• Lots of new parkruns in Victoria have opened over the past year that I haven't visited yet
• Berwick Waters parkrun 18 minutes after battling a sore upper left leg for a week
• Marriott Waters parkrun close to 17:30 was the first really good run in months
• My left leg still wasn't good after a whole week of jogging
• Then I also developed a tight back from some nerve irritation
• Run Prix 10km race
• My first race in nearly three months
• Under 36:30 was good while still battling a sore back and leg
• Dorset parkrun 19:30 easy effort
• My lower left leg kept collapsing during the five kilometre warmup jogging
• It seems likely to be related to the nerve problems with my lower back, very scary
• Finally got a chance to do my first (and maybe last) Sunday half marathon training session
• Averaged 4:00/km but my hamstring was sore again when I tried to speed up later
• Been getting lots of emails about running events for next year already
• New Geelong marathon festival in September
• New Hervey Bay marathon festival in June - but very expensive domestic flights
• Shopping
• Another pair of Puma Magnify Nitro 2 for just $70
• Cheap running sunglasses for $50 - but had heaps of reflection from the inside lens
• Nike running sunglasses for $150 - smaller fit than my Smith pair but otherwise not bad
• Nike Alphafly 3 discounted - another option for half marathons if Asics are uncomfortable

The summary of running is I've been battling a variety of injuries with only one week until Melbourne half marathon now, so I don't have a lot of confidence in being able to run at maximum effort.

In money events the shares have had a surprising run of small gains without a major collapse, even with a US government shutdown. It's a remarkable recovery from where things were at after February. It feels like I'm just slowly inching towards having enough money to consider a house purchase.

Some more large bills popped up, with another $3000 due to the tax office next month:

• Car GPS replacement $250
• Home insurance $400
• Sports apparel $750 as above

A few things to talk about in sports for a change:

• AFL grand final
• Won a ticket in the ballot for a second year in a row
• It was a better match until the last quarter when Geelong fell behind
• NFL
• Weekly highlights have started again but I'm about two weeks behind
• NPL Victoria women's final
• Attended the grand final match at Bundoora
• This time my inherited team due to proximity - Box Hill - managed to win

The to do list is actually quiet compared to all the other events:

• Holidays
• Still got a month to organise a quick trip to New Zealand
• Have to work out plans for 2026 around my running schedule
• House
• May need to arrange for an expensive new air-conditioner to be installed before summer
• Running 2026 plans
• Have to start mapping out a plan already, but much similar to previous years
• Gold Coast registration opens in early December

Things are much the same at work and fairly quiet in general. I need to commit to the final Java study and take the exam in early October.

That's finally it for this month.

• Books
• None
• Movies
• None
• Music
• None
• Tool and Wolf Alice attending summer festivals but no side shows
• TV
• 007 Road To A Million season 1
• Too easy to progress, just had to navigate to a destination then choose from three answers
• At least the last episode became a bit more difficult
• A second season just launched, which is hopefully better
• 5 out of 10
• Video Games
• Xbox One
• Call Of Duty - Black Ops Cold War
• Took forever to install but worked with no problems
• Only played the first level so far

August Review

Made it through another winter.

Just a standard month of running with no races. My first parkrun back at Dorset Recreation Reserve felt very slow at 18:00 then did even worse with 18:30 at Birdsland Reserve but it was on the much slower backup course. I managed a few better times under 18 minutes at Marriott Waters but really had to work hard. I'm hoping to get back under 17:30 but it still feels a long way off.

I picked up two more pairs on Nike Pegasus Premium from the outlets for $90 each, and they seem like they will be good for a variety of conditions. I also got the latest Asics Metaspeed Edge Tokyo for 25% off, but after just standing in them for a few minutes I already had some pain developing in my left midfoot due to the narrow shoe and high arch on the inside. It was similar to the problem I had with the Vaporfly 3, but not quite as bad. I haven't actually run in them yet, so I'm still hoping I might be able to adapt to the shape.

I also ordered a bunch of precision hydration items for my upcoming half marathons and a lot of new socks. I registered for the Auckland half marathon and 2XU Wellness Run 10km which are both on towards the end of the year. I took one last look at the Singapore half marathon, but the first three categories were already sold out so it wouldn't have been worth it to be stuck behind people running over two hours.

My shares have still been going alright overall, but most of my underperforming investments are now the small USA technology companies. I guess it came in a bit too late for the first round of AI excitement. Even with some good returns a house still feels a long way off, any capital gains and stamp duty would take a huge chunk of my savings. A lot of other spending this month too:

• Auckland holiday $1750
• MCC $900
• Running gear $750

Something a bit different for sports this month. I went to the final of the Nike FC Cup, which is the final of the knockout tournament for the Victoria women's senior leagues. I normally wouldn't even know such a thing existed, but for knowing someone associated with one of the teams this year. The match finished 1-1 then went through extra time and penalties which was exciting.

The to do list:

• Health
• Got my annual covid vaccination, about 13 months since the last one
• Holiday
• Japan report finally finished
• Auckland trip booked (including half marathon) after finding some cheap flights
• Getting a free day off due to Melbourne Cup Day was an unexpected bonus
• Brisbane trip afterwards should be it for this year

At work I'm into a three day routine right now, which is much better than I expected. Having some new places to run that aren't suburban streets is a nice change, and being able to talk to people without a computer is a lot better. I finally need to resume my Java exam study now.

That's it for this month.

• Books
• None
• Movies
• Weapons
• A little slow at times but good overall
• The same story was replayed from different perspectives but didn't feel too repetitive
• 8 out of 10
• Music
• TV
• Destination X UK season 1
• Only half way through, but the clues are much more difficult than the USA season
• Having some locations repeated from the USA season is disappointing
• Destination X USA season 1
• The clues were way too obvious, and usually was a major capital city
• It made no sense that everyone was sharing their clues all the way through
• 6 out of 10
• Video Games
• Xbox One
• Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War
• The installation took like 10 hours for 150 GB
• I played the first level just to confirm it didn't have any installation issues like other recent games
• I'll put the rest on hold until after my Java exam
• Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
• Finally finished the main story but didn't even realise as there was no real ending
• Completed all of the other achievements except a few that were no longer possible

Japan 2025

July 12

July 13

July 14

July 15

July 16

July 17

July 18

July 19

July 20

July 21

July 22

July 23

July 24

July 25

July 26

July 27

July 28

July Review

The July review, on to the second half of the year and second half of winter.

Another running summary in list form:

• The first week rained every day so I never got a good chance to try my new Puma race shoes before Gold Coast
• Avoided a third week of adductor pain relapse before Gold Coast
• Gold Coast half marathon finished just over 79 minutes
• A small miss of my goal time, slowed a bit in the second half
• The full details are in the Gold Coast report
• My legs were tired for a week after the half marathon, perhaps because of the different race shoes
• Lewis Reserve parkrun got straight back under 18 minutes though, after a very easy week
• Two weeks in Japan included two parkruns over 35 degrees, with identical times of 19:28
• Only averaged about 10 kilometres per day due to the weather and walking all day, but still at the usual speed
• My next goal is to recover fitness and feel like I'm running well again

In the money section my shares went up a little during my holiday, which never usually happens. There may be another downturn on the way with the next USA tariffs coming soon.

For other expenses I bought a new backpack and shorts before my holiday, then all of the daily spending while travelling for just over two weeks. Overall I spent about $1250 which included:

• Food
• Gifts
• Running clothes purchases
• Magnets
• Train travel excluding shinkansen
• Video games merchandise purchases

The things that weren't included in that total were:

• Flights
• Hotels
• Tickets
• Train travel with shinkansen

Another quiet month for sports, watching back the Gold Coast half marathon after participating was the highlight.

Now for the to do list:

• Report
• Gold Coast report
• Japan report - will take some time but made detailed notes already
• Running
• Auckland I think is definitely out due to lack of other activities
• Singapore is only a slight chance due to post holiday enthusiasm
• It would probably involve an additional trip to Hanoi or Siem Reap
• Have to decide very soon
• Summer Holiday
• Otherwise just the few days in Brisbane so far

Somehow still going with work without doing too much. The new mandate is going to be two days at head office and one at the client, I'd prefer the other way around. Hopefully I can find a good routine at head office with regards to things like computer peripherals, hot desking, locker storage (if there is any), running routine.

Now that my holiday is over I can try to resume where I was up to for this annoying Java exam.

That's it for this month.

• Books
• None
• Movies
• None - missed out watching 28 Years Later due to last minute trip planning
• Music
• None - and no summer tours coming up so far
• TV
• Squid Game season 3
• A bit up and down, and predictable, but overall good enough
• Again hated the secondary characters and their behaviour
• 6 out of 10
• Video Games
• PC
• Papers Please - bought cheap on Steam
• Xbox One
• Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
• Finally beat the main story without realising, as there was no ending and just an achievement
• Now to hurry through some remaining achievements that aren't broken

Japan 2025, July 28

The midnight boarding all went smoothly and I thought I was going to be next to an empty seat, only for someone to show up at the last minute. The supper meal finally had an edible vegetable biryani as one of the default options. After the meals were cleared I focused on trying to sleep and somehow got several periods of short sleep.

By the time the lights came on six hours out of eight were done, just before serving breakfast. The breakfast options weren't great, so I just had the side meals, then spent the rest of the time counting down the minutes.

Finally we arrived and didn't get stuck waiting for permission to land. The smart gates were empty, but then the luggage took like 40 minutes to arrive following that, with the usual crowding around the carousel. There was only one person looking at all of the declaration forms, so that took a while too.

After all these years they've only just added a digital board at the Skybus stand to say when the next bus is expected. The bus and train trip went the same as usual, slow but reliable. Everything in my luggage looked to have survived the journey when I got around to unpacking.

For the afternoon I got out for a 7.5 kilometre run in the cold for a quick run, but wasn't even running any faster than the Tokyo heat.

Some of my spending totals were:

• Activities - $100 + prepaid tickets
• Food - $400 or about $25 per day
• Magnets - $75
• Shopping - $60
• Trains - $175 + shinkansen

Steps = 10,546 with 7.5 kilometres running

Japan 2025, July 27

This was going to be a bit of a wasted day since the hotel check-out was 11am and the flight wasn't until 4pm. Thanks to efficient and regular trains, I could be at the airport in under an hour.

This is the usual travel trade off between arriving in Melbourne late at night with no public transport (except Friday or Saturday night) or arriving during the day. The corresponding departure time depends on where you're travelling from and how long the flight is, and the time zone changes involved. Sadly it often means travelling through the night so you can arrive during the day - exhausted with no sleep.

Another bad part that I couldn't avoid was another 3-4 hours waiting at Hong Kong late at night for the connecting flight. Trying to stay awake until you board your flight is never fun.

Since I had nothing to do for the day except sit around I managed my longest run at 12.5 kilometres. Even with a small bit of cloud cover it was still challenging most of time. Back to the hotel and checkout was before 11am, but the flight wasn't until 4pm.

I was thinking of getting some basic headphones so I could watch something on my laptop at the airport, so decided to checkout and leave my luggage at the hotel. Since Akihabara was only a 15 minute trip away I planned a quick visit to there and back to buy some headphones and waste a bit of time.

One of the station exits comes out at Yodobashi Camera so I spent my time in there, listening to their Akiharaba store melody on repeat. There was quite a range of in-ear wired headphones to choose from, but I didn't need anything special so settled for a $10 pair. The demonstration pair looked purple, but it turned out to be a lot more pink that I was hoping for.

On another level was computers, video games, and related merchandise. They had a range of things from Nintendo, Pokemon, Sega, and Square, some of the items I'd seen at their specialty stores. The amount of items was much less, but you could have easily done most of your shopping across all the brands just here, with a lot less hassle.

Then I was back to the hotel to pick up my suitcase and walk about one kilometre to the station which goes direct to Haneda airport, in about an hour. There was almost no shade along the way so I was sweating a lot thanks to wearing a backpack.

The train to the airport was surprisingly full but I managed a seat for most of the trip. I could barely get off the train at the international terminal as most people were staying on for the domestic terminal. I got to the departure area just before the 3 hour bag drop time was due to open, so didn't have to wait long for the queue to open. The line moved a bit slow thanks to a few people with a large pile of luggage, but not too bad. The security line was also good enough, then I was through to the departure gates. The food options were a bit limited, but I did manage to find a great Family Mart branded vending machine with some food snacks.

By the time I walked down to my gate I still had a bit over an hour until boarding was due to commence. With 4 GB still left on my mobile data account I created a mobile hotspot and watched some Twitch for a while. Normally I have no energy at the airport and spend the whole time resting, but it was only 3pm so I wasn't too tired yet. Watching Twitch for 30 minutes used surprisingly little data, only 300 MB.

The first flight was 4 hours 40 minutes and I had the front row of premium economy next to the window. When I booked it there was nobody seated next to me, but I didn't expect that would remain, and I think the whole section was full in the end

The boarding process was a little strange as we had to get on a bus and drive out onto the runway to the plane. The overhead cabins in premium economy were also strange, those roller suitcases everyone loves weren't fitting long ways, so had to be put in width ways. I'm guessing the same problem occurred down in economy, as they had lots of people bring their suitcases up into business class.

After we took off we got a meal served after about an hour. The options were fish with rice or lamb with vegetables. I asked for fish but somehow got lamb instead. The fish came with a good serving of rice on the side which would have been good, but the vegetables with lamb had some lentils, so was still alright. We must have sat in front of our trays for close to an hour before they finally came back and collected them. I got a little bit of rest in the first half of the flight but the final hour really seemed to drag on.

We arrived approximately on time, which didn't matter to me as I had four hours to waste. At the transfer gate it was another cycle of passport, boarding pass, and bag check, but this time I had no problems with my passport thankfully.

The Hong Kong international airport is huge but has surprisingly few food and drink options, and no vending machines at all. After getting on a shuttle train towards my gate I found a Hungry Jack's open for some fries, then had to walk close to ten minutes to find a place selling drinks. My gate was at the very end of one wing, so it was a very long walk back and forth, that you wouldn't want to repeat more than once.

The closest travelator was making a constant beeping sound every few seconds, which was going to make me go crazy, so I had to move as far away as possible. By the time I was ready to sit down I still had about two hours to wait for boarding to commence near midnight Hong Kong time, or 1am Japan time.

My computer still had 75% battery charge remaining and I had the Optus $5 daily roaming for the day, so I could watch some more Twitch to pass the time. I had no plug for the Hong Kong power points, so my battery would have to last. I watched Twitch until about 11pm, but it was hard to enjoy it while being tired and watching the clock.

Public transport = 1019 yen

Steps = 15,800 with 12.5 kilometres running (at Haneda airport)

Steps = 20,346 (at Hong Kong airport)

Japan 2025, July 26

None of the parkruns in Tokyo are in particularly good locations, but at least the one closest to Asakusa could be accessed by just a single train trip. Actually the train line changes into two or three other services, but depending on the service you get it's possible to remain on the same train the whole way. Still it was going to be an earlier start than usual due to the distance involved.

The parkrun was at Shibamata Koen Kadan, which roughly means Shibamata park flowerbed, about 11 kilometres away if walking. The train options were:

• 6:47 to 7:09
• 7:06 to 7:30
• 7:28 to 7:45

And the trip also required a 1.2 kilometre walk from the station to the start area. I took the middle option and reach the station in Asakusa with about five minutes to spare. The train had to wait for about 5 minutes at one point for an airport service coming the other way, but arrived about on schedule so that must have been a planned delay.

At the other end I had a quick look at the Google Maps view and took the road nearby which looked like it went almost all the way to the river area. Just doing the 1.25 kilometre jog it was already extremely hot, so it was lucky there was a drink tap right near the start.

The main briefing occurred quite early, then they had the first time briefing after that, took some photos, then had five minutes more to wait in the shade of some trees. Once we got started there was no shade at all on the route though.

It was incredibly hot running along the paved path, with only a couple of seconds of shade when going under three small bridges each lap that did not help at all. One guy took off pretty fast at the start, and then I was clearly in second. I checked my watch near 1 kilometre and I was over 4:00/km so tried to speed up slightly, although it was very hard to go any faster.

By the second lap I was really fighting the heat, but actually managed to increase my time each kilometre to finish around 19:30. It was a good small event, and all the local people were very friendly and supportive, it was just the hottest parkrun I can ever remember doing.

Checking the schedule I would just be able to make the next train back to Asakusa if I hurried, and made it with about two minutes to spare. Even with the air conditioning in the train I was sweating a lot for a few stops, so lucky it wasn't too packed.

Finally back at the hotel and down to breakfast at about 9:30, which runs from 7:00 to 10:30. I thought they'd be nearly empty and packing up, but there was people everywhere. I don't know why they all have breakfast so late.

A bit of a later start to the day due to parkrun, and I'd left my last day free of any scheduled activities to see what came up. Since Tokyo Skytree was only two stops away I started there and had a look at some shops I only hurried through last time. Surprisingly the Pokemon Centre wasn't too busy for a weekend during school holidays, so I finally decided on buying a medium size Pikachu "sleep version". I'm not sure what the reason behind the sleep range is, but there was a similar range at the Sega store for Sonic, so I figured the two purchases would go well together.

After that was done I took the long trip back to Shibuya, having to change trains once along the way. Since I was a bit more familiar I was able to find the area where the Square Enix Garden store should be. It wasn't clear the name of the building it was in since Google hadn't translated the Japanese, and likewise the floor level, but I was lucky to find it without too much effort.

Like usual there was way too much of the generic Dragon Quest slimes, and then a lot of Final Fantasy products. I would have been amazed if there was some Parasite Eve or Vagrant Story products too, but sadly there was not. One of the small Chocobo toys looked good, so I got that to make the trip worthwhile. There was also a bunch of small music boxes for different Final Fantasy games, although I hadn't memorised all the songs. I was hoping for a good Final Fantasy 8 tune, but there was only one and I don't think it's the best one. So I just settled for the Final Fantasy 7 main theme and hopefully it's alright.

On my way back towards the central Shibuya area there was a small popup store celebrating two years of the Pokemon "sleep" range. There was a big queue that lead into a back area, so I couldn't even tell what they were wating for, maybe some special photo opportunity.

At the Shibuya scramble crossing it was much busier so I hardly made it across due to all of the people going in different directions. It's also funny when cars end up stuck in the middle of the crossing trying to beat the red light.

Again I was just adding or revisiting some shopping from earlier in the week, except I decided to skip a return to Parco. I went through the Ikea, Loft, and Muji stores but didn't find many gifts or unique items in any of them, at least none that would fit in my suitcase.

As it was already 2pm I found a local Taco Bell to try them out. I got a veggie burrito with guacamole which was a little small but otherwise great.

After a bit more walking I got back onto a train for Asakusa before it got too late. The first reason was to pack up for tomorrow. The second reason was tonight was a major fireworks in Asakusa where up to one million people show up. The fireworks didn't start until 7pm but people queue for hours to get a good spot along the river once they close the roads and then open up the whole area to pedestrians only.

After dropping off all my shopping at the hotel I had time to look at the local Uniqlo which was in the same building as the hotel. I got a good "dry fit" style casual t-shirt for only $13 reduced from $19. Also close by was the major Don Quijote store with so many snacks, and so many flavours of kit kat. I didn't want to deal with declaring food for a few snacks that might taste good or terrible, so didn't buy anything in the end.

I got my reminder to do the online check-in for my flight, but since I had premium economy and chosen seats already there wasn't much to do. I changed to normal meal instead of vegetarian lacto-ovo since:

• Getting served first means you're stuck with a tray for much longer
• The food served on the previous two flights weren't very good
• The second flight is at midnight so I don't care much about food at that time anyway

The streets were already starting to get a bit crowded, and I didn't want to try and battle my way through a sea of people for a limited view of the fireworks.

Tokyo - 8 out of 10

• Good
• Crowds not as bad as expected
• Range of activities
• Running options - river and parks
• Shopping
• Weather - very hot
• Bad
• Ate too many convenience store snacks
• Long train trips sometimes
• Long walks between train platforms
• Shopping in Akihabara
• Standing on trains
• Missed Out
• Disney World
• Ikebukuro
• Meiji Jingu shrine
• Shibuya cat street
• Shinjuku
• Takeshita street - only hurried through it

Japan - 8 out of 10

• Good
• No issues with speaking English and understanding minimal Japanese
• Trains between cities - doesn't even have to be shinkansen sometimes
• Weather
• Bad
• Didn't get to explore more running routes
• Need to eat better food - maybe can skip breakfast buffets
• Running out of ideas for other cities to visit
• Standing and walking all day
• Wasted time cleaning clothes and doing laundry - better than winter though
• Missed Out
• Fukuoka
• Kanazawa
• Nintendo museum in Kyoto
• Other cities

Public transport = 1807 yen (535 Shimabata each way)

Steps = 21,127 with 7.45 kilometres running

Japan 2025, July 25

I had another early start with my second Teamlab event, this time Borderless starting at 10am again. The venue was in Minato which is south of the Ginza and Tokyo area, but still about 40 minutes from the hotel to the destination by train. I thought I might not make it with much time to spare, but arrived nearly 30 minutes early. They didn't seem that busy as there was no queue forming, so I got in about 15 minutes before my planned time.

This museum was a bit more of an art maze, most rooms had changing images and patterns displaying on them in a rotation. There was also a few special rooms, like the rows of vertical lights similar to Planets, one with cubes, and one with small orbs. It was quite dark and there was no specific route, so it was a bit of a puzzle working out if you'd found every room and avoiding going back to the same places again. There was a large middle room with a small mound that was just displaying art, and all the young kids were just going crazy running and sliding, despite the instructions saying not to do that.

I spent nearly 90 minutes looking around, then left and walked to nearby Tokyo Tower to see it up close. I'd already been to two observation decks in Tokyo, so figured I didn't need a third. It was extremely hot out in the sun today, with the forecasts being over 35 degrees every day.

There was just enough time if I was quick to get a short train to Shimbashi to see the Ghibli Glock at 12pm. The large strange looking clock is always on display, but only a few times a day do all the pieces come alive. It actually started a few minutes before 12pm so lucky I was there a little earlier, with a crowd of about 20 other people.

I was a bit unsure what I wanted to do next and as I had a few possible things in different directions, but nothing too important. Since I was only a couple of stops away from a large Pokemon Centre I had a quick look in there. It was hard to find since you had to go to the 8th floor of one building, then connect to another building which somehow became the 5th floor. The range of products looked similar, and there was quite a large queue, so I didn't stay long. At least it was only about a 15 minute detour.

Next I got back on the same train line to Ueno, heading back in the hotel direction. There's quite a few things in the park like a gallery, a museum, and a zoo. I chose the zoo but had read some mixed reviews about the animal living conditions, so was interested to find out for myself.

However before heading off I found a local Wendy's First Kitchen and made an attempt at an order. They don't have a vegetarian burger at all, so I tried fries, mini pancakes, and an ice cream soda float. The fries were as expected, the pancake sauce had a strange taste, and the soda tasted good but was half full of ice between the soda and the ice cream layers.

Continuing on the zoo, my initial impression was it was rather quiet for a big city zoo, although the range of animals was ok. I had a hard time finding a few animals - the polar bear was finished for the day, and the gorilla and tigers weren't in sight. Some of the animal enclosures were a bit of the small side, but that's probably true with many other zoos.

It is not great to see the animals going around in small circles or not moving a lot though. The lines for the two giant pandas was 20-30 minutes so I didn't wait for that, but did see the red pandas instead. Overall I guess I wasn't horrified, but improvements could be made for sure. For example, I don't know if penguins are supposed to be outdoors, even with access to water, in the middle of a Japan summer.

I didn't feel like making any more trips for the day in the heat, so headed back to the hotel for a late afternoon finish.

Public transport = 921 yen

Steps = 23,775 with 8.35 kilometres running

Japan 2025, July 24

The same breakfast again, then off for a longer 10.75 kilometre run as I'm getting to know the paths a bit better now.

For the trip to Yokohama I had to walk to the furthest of the many Asakusa stations, which has at least three different stations servicing four major train lines. The train I boarded was only two stops from the end of the line but was already standing room only. The same train changed service and continued all the way to Yokohama, so I got a seat later on once the Tokyo locals departed.

From Yokohama station it was straight into an underground mall, but I had a better idea of my orientation and the right direction to head in. Soon I found the entrance to the Nissan global headquarters gallery, which had a free showroom on the ground floor. I figured you couldn't touch any of the cars but then people were getting in most of them to try it out, even the Skyline GTR and such. They had quite a lot of things in the gift shop including a Datsun range but nothing I found worth buying.

Instead of continuing to walk I got the train for one stop to Minato Mirai, although it was so far underground it was almost the same effort. It was already nearly lunch time so I stopped at another Shack Shake. On my way out I was able to get some photos of the tallest building in the city, Yokohama landmark tower.

My next stop was a combined ticket for Yokohama port museum and Nippon Maru museum ship. I went to the port museum first, but you aren't allowed to take photos inside for most sections, for whatever reason. There was some interesting history of the port with English translations included - dealing with an earthquake, a war, and land reclamation projects.

There was a fun little gantry simulator game, but the best part was a five minute video in a room with a 180 screen, including a bit of the side wall, floor and ceiling. On the way out I got the best available magnet at the gift shop. The second part of my ticket was a walk around the ship next, it was alright but pretty standard.

Back out in the sun I walked along Kishamichi Promenade to Yokohama World Porters, which is a three level shopping building. There was some cable cars going overheard to the same destination, but the trip was only about 500 metres. I decided to run to be able to record a Yokohama exercise activity on my watch, but was already sweating by the end, so needed to quickly get inside with air conditioning.

There was a lot of character merchandise yet again, including a Marvel pop up store but it had nothing good, mostly the new Fantastic Four stuff. Outside one exit of the building was the Cosmo World amusement park. It's free to enter but then you have to pay for rides individually, however I didn't think I had time to spend there.

On the opposite side was a short walk to the old red brick warehouse building. This building has some historical significance with the port, but now has a lot of craft and souvenir shops, however I didn't find a better magnet. Continuing along I got some photos outside of the Osanbashi pier and the Yokohama bay bridge in the distance.

My feet were getting sore so I only kept walking a bit further, but ended at a good spot. I made it to Yamashita park which had a good view of the Yokohama marine tower in the background. There was also another ship named Hikawa Maru docked in the water.

I also had Nogeyama zoological gardens left on the list for the day. It is a free small zoo, but there wasn't a good public transport route there from my current location. A bit more time could have also been spent around the Chinatown area where I ended up at, but I had nothing to specific to see there. Instead of any of that I got the subway back to Yokohama station and then a train all the way back to Asakusa, the reverse of the morning journey. Since Yokohama was close to the start of the journey I actually got a seat for the whole trip for once.

Finally I had a bit more time in the afternoon to have a look along Nakamise shopping street and at Senso-ji temple when I got back to Asakusa There was a great selection of magnets in the shops but I didn't think I needed any more, although perhaps an overall Japan one.

It was about 5pm but I didn't have any good ideas for dinner, I looked at the Denny's menu but the only real option was grilled cheese and a bowl of rice. They had better options in the dessert menu though, like French toast, but I wasn't sure if they'd serve everything at once. I actually had a decent sized lunch so wasn't that hungry anyway, mostly just thirsty as per usual.

Yokohama - 6 out of 10

• Good
• Not as busy as Tokyo
• Bad
• Only spent half a day there
• Some other activities were further from the city centre
• Missed Out
• Chinatown - Hakurankan market
• Chinatown - Motomachi shopping street
• Cup Noodles museum - not much use for vegetarians
• Mitsui outlet park
• Nogeyama zoological gardens

Public transport = 1655 yen (620 Yokohama each way)

Steps = 25,205 with 11.25 kilometres running

Japan 2025, July 23

The breakfast choices were almost the same as yesterday, with tiny bowls for cereal and fruit, and the custard taiyaki were back, but would have been much better if they were warm.

Today's conditions for running were much more bearable than yesterday so I went over 10 kilometres. I ran across a bridge to the other side of the river but came across some weird one way signs taped on the ground. Firstly people were ignoring the signs and going the wrong way, and secondly the arrow directions just changed half way along the path, not at any intersection. I waited for traffic at a bridge crossing and got a lot further north this time, the path is more spacious and less confusing as it goes on.

I had a bit of a later start since I didn't need to be at Shibuya Sky until 11am, getting a single train all the way from Asakusa. Getting out at Shibuya station was just as confusing as I expected, with so many different exits, different levels, and different buildings. Even the station entrances are spread out in many unconnected locations.

I had about 30 minutes remaining still to go before my scheduled time, so I could have tried to find the Square Enix Garden merchandise store but didn't want to risk getting lost. After just having a look around nearby I went up the entrance lift just as they were putting out a sign that the outdoor level was cancelled. I'm guessing it was because of the temperature already, but it's quite disappointing you can't even go outside for a minute.

With the same weather conditions every day these cancellations must be occurring almost every day  in summer until sunset. There is an option to get a full refund, but then you've missed out completely. They should really give a 25-50% discount instead and let you continue on. Since I was there already I just continued on, and they were much better views that Tokyo Skytree is the full 360 degrees. After getting some good views and photos it became more of a shame the outdoor area couldn't have been enjoyed too. It was also amazing to see how much greenery there was close by around Yoyogi Park, maybe four times as much as I expected to see there. I got a Shibuya magnet from the gift shop then headed down and it was almost 12pm already.

I wasn't quite sure where I was but followed the crowd and ended up at the famous Shibuya crossing quickly. The intersection actually wasn't that busy, so my photos weren't very special. This whole Shibuya area is lots of narrow streets, running at weird angles, and not much traffic to worry about. The first thing I saw was Asahi beer advertising everywhere, featuring the four girls from Black Pink including Mook from The White Lotus.

I spent a while just walking around a few streets then ended up in Loft which I remembered having good gifts last time. On one of the floors they had some interesting video game items, most related to Sony. There was a really nice looking bag made to look like a PlayStation One console for about $70. It wasn't big enough for a laptop though, so I didn't think I would have much use for it. Instead I got a PlayStation towel and some other small gifts.

Next I found my way to Parco which again has a whole level dedicated to merchandise, and a new Sega store just opened up. The Sega store was small so they were handing out tickets for designated time when you were allowed to go in. It was about 12:30pm and I got a ticket for 2:30pm, a bit awkward as I'd have preferred sooner or later, not in the middle of the afternoon.

I had a quick look in Nintendo also, which has busy and seemed a bit worse than the Osaka store overall. The Capcom store had nothing again, and the Pokemon store had a crazy queue. I had to decide what do to between now and 2:30pm, and if I was even going to bother coming back just for the Sega store. I settled on walking up towards Yoyogi Park near Harajuku, and the surrounding area, then see how I was going for time and energy.

It actually took longer than expected to get to Yoyogi Park, and then parts of it were closed off anyway, so there was nothing much special to look at. It was getting close to 1:30pm so I planned to speed through a bit of Harajuku then get the train one stop back to Shibuya. I thought I might even have time to go to Meiji Jingu shrine, but definitely didn't, particularly since it's not accessible directly via Yoyogi Park either.

A Nike store was in sight so I went in with no expectations. Instead I found a good purple running shirt and risked getting the large size again, although I hadn't tried on the Asics shirt yet. Next it was down the hill to Takeshita Street which was very crowded as usual. I saw a Capcom capsule store but didn't have time to investigate. Maybe they have something rare Final Fight or Ghosts And Goblins items, but I doubt it. There was some other interesting things along the way like a Micro Pig cafe, but mostly it was tourist stuff. After a very quick walk to the other end of the street was an Asics store, so I got another large running shirt since it was on sale for about half price.

Rushing back to Harajuku station was hard with the crowds, and everyone had their umbrellas out to protect from the sun. I just missed a train but only had to wait four minutes for the next, and still made it back to Shibuya Parco from the station with 10 minutes to spare.

Inside the Sega store was a bit too much Sonic, which was predictable. I would have like to see some other unusual stuff, like Alex Kidd, Ecco The Dolphin, or whatever other brands they have. A lot of stuff was either plush toys or things I couldn't really figure out what they were for, like hard plastic coasters of different sizes. I couldn't buy the largest Sonic as it probably wouldn't fit in my suitcase, so I settled for a medium size one. I also got a small Sega pillow and a small Tails plush toy to go with my one from the short lived Sega World Sydney.

Once that was done I didn't make another attempt at Nintendo or Pokemon and headed back to the station. The Ginza line entrance was a long walk that was separate to the rest of the station entrances, I ended up scanning my IC card in the wrong entry and had to go back out again.

Back at the hotel I tried on all three Asics and Nike shirts and they fit well. Maybe they are marginally longer in length, but the overall fit in similar to my usual US medium. Even though it was a bit of a shorter day and had less specific activities, it still ended up close to 25,000 steps. I had a little more planning to do than usual with a whole day trip to Yokohama on a combination of local Tokyo and local Yokohama trains coming up.

Public transport = 650 yen

Steps = 24,984 with 10.5 kilometres running